Capital A’s fintech arm BigPay makes a foray into the cryptocurrency space

• Malaysia-based fintech firmBigPay partnered with Singapore-based crypto payment firm TripleA to launch its crypto top-up feature.
• Users can seamlessly convert their crypto assets into cash to spend via their BigPay debit card.
• At the moment, Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin and Tether are the accepted cryptocurrencies, with plans to expand the accepted currencies.

BigPay, the fintech arm of Asia’s leading low-cost airline AirAsia, has made its foray into the cryptocurrency space through a partnership with Singapore-based crypto payment firm TripleA. The Southeast Asian challenger bank announced its latest feature – Crypto top-up – allowing its users to seamlessly convert their crypto assets into cash spendable on their BigPay debit cards.

In a statement to the media, BigPay sad the cryptocurrencies currently accepted for top up are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT), with plans to increase accepted currencies in the near future. The latest feature comes as an addition to BigPay’s existing two top-up methods – credit and debit cards. “BigPay’s launch of the new feature will be a transparent conversion process that does not entail hidden fees for the user as is seen in many crypto to fiat transactions,” the company said on Thursday.

BigPay’s CEO and co-founder Salim Dhanani stated that “we believe in a regulated financial system which takes the best of both crypto and traditional finance – to increase efficiency and value to the end-user. We want to enable users to interact with digital assets in a safe and secure way and facilitate overall interoperability”.

The collaboration with Triple A allows BigPay to tap into over 300 million crypto owners worldwide. “With the addition of this new payment method, we are also pleased to continue enabling accessible and transparent digital financial services for BigPay’s customers.” TripleA’s CEO Eric Barbier noted.

Recently, BigPay added three new services to its Major Payment Institution (MPI) License issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS): account issuance service, domestic money transfer, and e-money issuance service. Under the Payment Services Act 2019, BigPay is licensed as a MPI to carry on the business of cross-border money transfer service, as well as the new services on offer.

BigPay claims that the company has more than doubled its user base in Singapore this year and will be accelerating its growth further with the issuance of the three new licenses. The firm said it currently holds four out of seven key regulated activities under the licensing framework.

Earlier this year, after almost a year of delays, BigPay finally enabled cashless and contactless QR payments on its app, completing its offering as an e-wallet player. The fintech platform was also one of the contenders of the digital banking license in Malaysia but failed to make it through.

Over the last five years, BigPay claimed to have helped over two million Malaysians get access to digital financial services while successfully adding a range of regulated financial products on top of the e-money account, such as international remittance, micro insurance and recently, digital personal loans.

 

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